I am Iron Man
by DragonWriter0316
Summary: One-Shot. After Ghost stole the specs to the Iron Man armor and learned that Tony was Iron Man, Tony decides to cut his losses and reveal his identity to the world.


**Guess who's back? I changed it up a bit and wrote a story for Iron Man Armored Adventures. I hope you guys like this one shot and come back to visit. I updated my profile, so check it out to see what's new.**

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"Tony, are you really sure that this is a good idea?" I hated it when people, especially Pepper, questioned my decisions. It wasn't because it was annoying, since I had made up my mind, rather it was because I wasn't sure already and being questioned just made me that much more hesitant.

"No, but is there a better idea?" Pepper bit at her nails before shaking her head.

After all, we didn't have that many options. Not after Stane hired Ghost to follow me and find out the specs on the Iron Man armor, resulting in Ghost not only getting those but also getting my secret identity. Now, I was not only in danger of losing my future position as head of Stark International, but was already told that I was going to get blackmailed when I turned eighteen. And if that wasn't enough, Stane also made copies of the armor, and proceeded to hire criminals to wear the suits and create situations that put civilians in danger just so they could save the day. After all this happened, I couldn't just sit still and do nothing. There was only one answer to solve all these problems: I needed to reveal to the world that I was Iron Man.

I understand that this may sound crazy, but, once one has thought it over, it does make sense. It gets rid of the ability for Ghost to blackmail me, and why would any company want the guy who stole the specs of the most incredible armor ever created when they had access to the guy who created it?

"There is one snag in this master plan of yours, Tony." I looked over at Rhodey to acknowledge that I heard him and to see what he had to say. "You're still a minor. You can't just call a press conference and reveal to the world that you're Iron Man, no matter how much you want to. You need to get my mom's approval."

I thought for a second, and I assumed that my face showed this since Rhodey and Pepper looked disappointed at this statement. Then, the genius in me took over and I realized how to do it. "Guess what Rhodey." He looked at me with an expression that showed he was waiting to hear what I came up with. "That snag just got taut." With that, I turned and ran out of the lab and went straight to the Rhodes' household. I had work to do.

…

"Roberta!" I realized that I probably shouldn't have yelled right after I did. Then I wouldn't have been met with her response.

"Tony, what's wrong?" She had a look of worry in her eyes that did not need to be there, but it was there nonetheless. Fortunately, she wasn't holding anything breakable, otherwise, she may have broken it.

"Nothing. Sorry, I shouldn't have yelled." She gave me a look of 'you think' before I continued. "I have a favor to ask." I was waiting to see if I could continue when she spoke.

"Well, what is it?"

I took a deep breath, partially because I ran to the Rhodes' but mostly because there was a lot riding on this favor I had to ask. "I was wondering if you could approve me to host a press conference? I want to use it to tell the world why I should be in charge of Stark International as well as just an update that I am still around."

She looked at me and seemed to ponder what I had just asked her. I was almost-forget almost, I _was_\- praying that she would say yes. I needed her to say _yes_. "Tony, wouldn't it be better and simpler to just talk to the board rather than go through the trouble of getting a press conference together?"

In all honesty, I knew if I told her the real reason why I needed this to be a press conference and _not_ a board meeting, she would not approve of this. However, she also could tell when I was lying. Therefore, a half-truth was needed. "Yes, but if I can get the public on board, including stockholders, I may have a better shot at getting the board to agree."

She looked at me for a minute before sighing, "I suppose you have a point. Sure, just give me what I have to sign and you can arrange the press conference."

I was so excited that I gave her a hug. "Thank you Roberta. I really appreciate this."

She laughed at my response before hugging me back. "You're welcome, Tony. Now you may want to get started."

"Right, I will get right on it." With that, I turned and ran all the way back to the lab. After all, Pepper, Rhodey, and I had work to do.

…

"You seriously told my mom that, and she bought it?" Rhodey looked at me, astounded.

"Why wouldn't she, it is the truth, at least part of it. I knew if I told her that I was Iron Man, she would not let me go through with this."

Rhodey gave me a 'you're right' face, to which I smirked. "Now," I began, "we have a lot of work to do before this can happen. Rhodey, you need to find a place to have this. Pepper, I need you to find the documents that I need for Roberta to sign so this can happen."

"What are _you_ going to do? Don't tell us that we're going to be doing all the work." Pepper stared at me with a slight annoyed look on her face.

I gave one of my trademarked Tony Stark smiles. "That's easy, I'm going to arrange for the press. After all, I just need to call and say that it is _Tony Stark _and I want to hold a press conference. That would get any newspaper reporter to show up."

We all nodded at each other and went to do our respective jobs. We had a lot to do to make this work, and it needed to work.

…

"Tony, I know I said this before, but are you sure you want to go through with this? It's not too late to turn back." Pepper looked at me and it was with a different type of look in her eyes. It wasn't scared, it wasn't even hesitant, it was almost sad. Like she didn't want me to have to tell the world about my identity, at least not like this. Part of me didn't want to tell the world either. Unfortunately, despite what Pepper may have thought, the reporters facing us patiently probably disagreed with her saying that we could turn back.

"I am, Pepper. I have to do this." In that moment, and I couldn't explain why, I almost wanted to lean in and kiss her, but that moment was neither at the right time nor in the right place.

After getting the papers signed by Roberta, finding the place and the reporters for the press conference wasn't hard at all. Rhodey got approval to have it in Central Park, since it's public property and I was right about what to say to the reporters to make this happen.

I took a deep breath and walked forward toward the microphone. As I did the reporters quieted their murmuring and held up their microphones to record me talking.

"Most of you probably know this already, but I am Tony Stark." Great, like there wasn't a _better _way to start this. I knew there was a reason I quit making public appearances. Anyway, I needed to try to salvage this. "Something that you may not know is that the Board of Directors is in the process of not allowing for me to inherit Stark International when I turn eighteen. This is due to the fact that Obadiah Stane has 'acquired' the specs for the Iron Man armor." The press was starting to get bored with me and I could tell. So, I went ahead and skipped the next ten minutes of my speech went straight to the punchline. "Despite this, I am still more qualified to run this company. And that is for one simple reason." I took my second deep breath of the day and said the reason I called them all there. "I am Iron Man." With that, the press exploded, taking pictures and shouting questions.

…

And that was that. As you can imagine, my life pretty much changed forever. Since I came out as Ironman and was able to prove it, I could also testify that Ghost was the one who stole the specs for Stane with security footage from the armory. The board was unanimous in their decision to let me remain as the inheritor of Stark International and was even allowing me to have more say in the company than when Stane was CEO.

I knew that there was an issue with the whole patent thing before. But since the specs were stolen and still in the prototype phase, Stane hadn't patented the specs either. And, since I had now revealed to the world that I was Iron Man, those specs legally belonged to me. At least, once the paperwork went through.

Roberta was kind of upset that I didn't tell her the full reason of why I wanted to call the press conference, but I told her that if she would've known the full reason, she probably wouldn't have let me do it. Naturally, she had questions, especially as to the "car crash" that happened right before my seventeenth birthday and why I went to China for so long. At least now I won't have to lie to her about where I am or what I'm doing.

I was careful not to out Rhodey or Pepper, that was their decision after all. I knew if someone tried hard enough they could put it together, but, since they were both okay with me revealing my identity, I knew that they were aware of the risk they were taking by letting me do this.

All in all, things did work out for the better, but I knew that I painted a second target on my back. The first one being that I was a rich kid, the second that I was pretty much single-handedly responsible for the takedown of a number of criminals. I knew I wouldn't be able to stop looking over my shoulder for a while, but I didn't really have another choice. At least now, things should calm down for a bit and the fight for Stark International shouldn't be as huge a factor in my life as it has been. And, if things didn't calm down, I didn't need to worry. After all, I had two of the best people in the world as not only my teammates, but also my best friends. And, who could forget this tidbit of information: "I _am_ Ironman."

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